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The Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Jewish synagogues in the Brooklyn and Queens borough of New York City had sued to challenge attendance limits at houses of worship in areas that were harder hit by the virus. Now, Justice Amy Coney Barrett played a decisive role as the Supreme Court stopped New York from enforcing specific coronavirus restrictions on religious services. Point to be noted that attendance was capped at 10 people for red and 25 for orange zones. However, the ruling won’t have an immediate impact as the two groups are in areas now designated as yellow zones, where houses of worship can hold services at 50% of their maximum occupancy. US Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 to stop the enforcement of the measures.

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and the court’s 3 liberal justices dissented. The decision was at odds with rulings about capacity limits at churches in California and Nevada earlier this year. The justices voted 5-4 to leave in place restrictions the governor imposed on religious services. It is noteworthy that Barrett is a conservative and devout Catholic and her vote performed a major role in this decision. She was confirmed to the court in October after Ginsburg’s death in September 2020. The court’s order addressed 2 applications, one from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn (it covers Brooklyn and Queens) and another from Agudath Israel of America, two synagogues, and two other individuals. Both applications insisted that houses of worship were being unfairly treated by the executive order of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The synagogues argued that the governor’s restrictions had singled out the Orthodox Jewish community. It says, “Cuomo did not attack religious belief generally, but singled out a particular religion for blame and retribution for an uptick in a society-wide pandemic”. The New York State said religious services were being treated more favorably than secular gatherings that carry a similar infection risk, such as concerts and theater performances. Justice Neil Gorsuch said in a concurring opinion that Cuomo had treated religious exercises far more harshly than secular activities. He said, “It is time, past time to make plain that, while the pandemic poses many grave challenges. There is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues, and mosques”.